The Helly Hansen / Giant website has been relaunched today and is worth a visit.

The site itself is not the slickest, and the wide use of small text isn’t too easy on the eye, but there’s plenty of information to be found. As well as the expected news about the team and the events they are racing and attending this season, you can take a look at the team bikes and exactly what the team pro’s are riding this year.

For riders planning their own epic exertions there’s a chance to apply for Helly Hansen’s Mountain Adventure Award . The award is for £2500 plus technical expedition clothing towards the human powered trip that they think is most worthy of support. There’s also a competition to win those essential Red Bull items – a pair of Motorola T6222 two-way radios.

You can sign up on the site to receive free copies of the twice-yearly ‘Alive’ magazine, which covers all of Helly Hansen’s sponsored athletes, not just the mtb ones.

The fact they’ve dubbed themselves the “UK’s premier mountain bike endurance team” also reinforces where they think the future of the sport is heading. Helly Hansen are already a major “ambassador” presence at the Coed-y-Brenin Fat tyre festival this month, and it’s obvious they’re planning more of this grass-roots participation rather than purely concentrating on the National Points Series. Good for them we reckon.